Bendigo & Ballarat to join Geelong as 'feeders' for spring Cups

VICTORIA'S three biggest provincial cities could all play crucial roles in spring carnivals with the possibility that the Bendigo and Ballarat cups could join the Geelong Cup as feeder races to the Caulfield and Melbourne cups, reports The Age.It says: In the Coalition's plan for racing in Victoria, it said it would attempt to shift the mid-November Ballarat Cup to an early October date - possibly 10 days before the Caulfield Cup - while it planned to extend the distance of the Bendigo Cup to ma

VICTORIA'S three biggest provincial cities could all play crucial roles in spring carnivals with the possibility that the Bendigo and Ballarat cups could join the Geelong Cup as feeder races to the Caulfield and Melbourne cups, reports The Age.

It says: In the Coalition's plan for racing in Victoria, it said it would attempt to shift the mid-November Ballarat Cup to an early October date - possibly 10 days before the Caulfield Cup - while it planned to extend the distance of the Bendigo Cup to make it a qualifying race for the Melbourne Cup six days later.

Ballarat Turf Club chief executive Shane Brennan said yesterday he was looking forward to the next step in the process by holding discussions with Racing Victoria Ltd over a possible reprogramming of the Ballarat Cup to the club's Golden Nugget Stakes day on the first Wednesday in October.

''Ballarat is one of the state's most spacious racetracks along with Geelong and Bendigo and its cup could serve as a start-off point for the spring for international gallopers."

The Ballarat Cup was a success when run on a Sunday this year, two weeks after the Flemington carnival. In 2008, the Bendigo Cup was changed from eight days after the Melbourne Cup to the old Werribee Cup date six days before the Melbourne Cup. But the race distance was reduced to 2200 metres. A qualifying condition of the Melbourne Cup is horses must have won quality staying races of 2300 metres and beyond. The Bendigo Cup had been 2400 metres before the date change. The 2011-12 fixture is being reviewed by the clubs so it may be 2012-13 before the Bendigo and Ballarat cups dates are changed.